University
One might argue that once a student reached university level he could be considered an adult; and, since this is one of the instances in which a young person might be living "on his own," there is certainly logic behind the assertion. However, university students were notorious for making merry and making trouble. Both official university restrictions and unofficial social guidelines kept the students in a subordinate position, not only to their teachers but to senior students. In the eyes of society, it would appear that students were not yet completely considered adults.
It's also important to remember that, although there were age specifications as well as experience requirements to become a teacher, no age qualifications governed a student's entry into a university. It was a young man's ability as a scholar that determined if he was ready to pursue higher education. Therefore, we have no hard-and-fast age group to consider; students were usually still teenagers when they entered university, and legally not yet in full possession of their rights.
A student beginning his studies was known as a bajan, and in many cases he underwent a rite of passage called the "jocund advent" upon his arrival at university. The nature of this ordeal varied according to place and time, but it usually involved feasting and rituals similar to the hazing of modern fraternities. After a year at school the bajan could be purged of his lowly status by expounding a passage and debating it with his fellow students. If he made his argument successfully, he would be washed clean and led through the town on an ass.1
Possibly due to their monastic origins, students were tonsured (the tops of their heads were shaved) and wore clothing similar to that of the monk: a cope and cassock or a closed-over long-sleeved tunic and overtunic. Their diet could be fairly erratic if they were on their own and with limited funds; they had to purchase what was inexpensive from the shops of the city. Early universities had no provisions for housing, and young men had to live with friends or relatives or otherwise fend for themselves.
Before long colleges were set up to aid the less affluent students, the first being the College of the Eighteen in Paris.2 In return for a small allowance and a bed at the Hospice of the Blessed Mary, students were asked to offer prayers and take turns carrying the cross and holy water before the bodies of deceased patients.
Some residents proved to be insolent and even violent, disrupting the studies of serious students and breaking in when they stayed out after hours. Thus, the Hospice began to restrict its hospitality to students who behaved more pleasantly, and it required them to pass weekly examinations to prove their work was meeting expectations. Residency was limited to a year, with the possibility of a year's renewal at the discretion of the foundationers.
Institutions such as the College of the Eighteen evolved into endowed residences for students, among them Merton at Oxford and Peterhouse at Cambridge. In time, these colleges began to acquire manuscripts and scientific instruments for their students and offer regular salaries to teachers in a concerted effort to prepare candidates in their quests for a degree. By the end of the fifteenth century, few students lived outside colleges.
Students attended lectures regularly. In the early days of universities, lectures were held in a hired hall, a church, or the master's home, but soon buildings were constructed for the express purpose of teaching. When not at lectures a student would read significant works, write about them, and expound on them to fellow scholars and teachers. All this was in preparation for the day when he would write a thesis and expound on it to the doctors of the university in return for a degree.
The subjects studied included theology, law (both canon and common), and medicine. The University of Paris was foremost in theological studies, Bologna was renowned for its law school, and Salerno's medical school was unsurpassed. In the 13th and 14th centuries numerous universities sprang up throughout Europe and England, and some students were not content to limit their studies to only one school.
Earlier scholars such as John of Salisbury and Gerbert of Aurillac had traveled far and wide to glean their education; now students were following in their footsteps (sometimes literally). Many of these were serious in motive and driven by a thirst for knowledge. Others, known as Goliards, were more lighthearted in nature -- poets seeking adventure and love.
All this may present a picture of students thronging the cities and highways of medieval Europe, but in reality scholarly studies at such a level were unusual. By and large, if a teenager were to undergo any form of structured education, it was more likely to be as an apprentice.
Continued on Page Three: Apprenticeship.
Notes
1. Rowling, Marjorie, Life in Medieval Times (Berkley Publishing Group, 1979), p. 150.
2. Ibid, p. 148.
